QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 10:11 am AST (14:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Ponce, PR, at 12:32 pm AST on 24 May 2021 (16:32 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

in Ponce, PR

12:32 pm AST, May 24, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 400 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 3 kmPeñuelas Municipio 10 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 15 kmGuayanilla Municipio 17 kmVillalba Municipio 22 kmJayuya Municipio 23 kmAdjuntas Municipio 23 kmYauco Municipio 25 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 27 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
12:32 pm AST on 24 May 2021 ()
Where
in Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ponce Municipio, 3 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1998 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Ponce in town, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 8 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 9 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 14 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 17 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 18 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 38,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 27,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 400 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 300,000 times the energy of this one.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 18.0135, -66.6350. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ponce Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.0 6 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 7 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 1 km N of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 2 km ENE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 2 km ENE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 4 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 5 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.